Objective Assessing and improving the efficiency of conservation policies and ecosystem management strategies is an essential prerequisite to the reconciliation of biodiversity conservation and other potentially conflicting human activities such as agriculture or fo restry. Such efficiency assessments require the integration of ecological and economic knowledge and have rarely been performed yet. The research group "Ecological-Economic Modelling (EEM)" formed of ecologists and environmental economists at the UFZ-Centr e for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle aims to enhance this innovative research area and has developed for this purpose ecological-economic models on a conceptual level. In order to go beyond the conceptual level and to be able to apply the concepts de veloped to assess and improve the efficiency of existing conservation policies and ecosystem management strategies, two types of competence are still lacking and have to be established in the group: (1) state-of-the-art operations research which is require d to link ecological and economic data in real landscapes and support the identification of efficient conservation policies, and (2) agro-economics which is required to assess the costs of real conservation measures. Each of the two competences will be pro vided by an experienced research fellow. The transfer of the competence will be carried out by training measures and in scientific work on two exemplary case studies for the development of biodiversity conservation policies. The applicability of ecological -economic modelling to practical conservations measures by application of operations research and agro- and forestry economic cost assessment into the modelling procedure will be demonstrated through these case studies in very different ecosystems. As a re sult, efficient spatially and temporally differentiated management strategies and policies will be developed that allow the biodiversity to be conserved at least costs to land users and society. Fields of science social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiodiversity conservationnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyinvasive speciesnatural sciencesmathematics Keywords Biodiversity Conservation policy Cost-assessment Efficiency Operations research Optimisation Programme(s) FP6-MOBILITY - Human resources and Mobility in the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration "Structuring the European Research Area" under the Sixth Framework Programme 2002-2006 Topic(s) MOBILITY-1.3 - Marie Curie Host Fellowships - Transfer of knowledge (TOK) MOBILITY-1.3.1 - Marie Curie Host Fellowships - Transfer of knowledge (TOK) - Development Scheme Call for proposal FP6-2002-MOBILITY-3 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme TOK - Marie Curie actions-Transfer of Knowledge Coordinator UFZ - UMWELTFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM LEIPZIG-HALLE GMBH. EU contribution No data Address Permoserstrasse 15 LEIPZIG Germany See on map Total cost No data